Day Six: I wish they all could be California towns...

Waking up on Day Six was amazing. I left Mike snoozing and, our tiny cabin now cozy due to the whirrings of a hearty little heater left on all night, pulled on a sweatshirt and stole outside. The redwoods were quiet. Humid from a night of fog and thick with morning dew, there wasn't even a car on the nearby freeway to disturb the morning. Beautiful. And soon we were in the car, winding our way toward the interstate, the border, and Portland.


Ah, Portland! Our love and gratitude for you overflow and pour out onto your rain-wet streets! The So Cal expatriate KOA owner (who, Mike reminds us, was not so much friendly as Extremely Helpful in a Kathy Bates sort of way) had disparaged it so. But what a city! We checked in to our fantastically comfortable hotel, hopped on the MAX light rail and rode into town.

First stop: Powell's City of Books. Can anything be better than this place? Empirical evidence says no, but I guess we'll have to wait till we see what Bozeman has to offer. The biggest independent used & new bookstore in the world, it's exactly as awesome as it should be. We rushed through, knowing that if we spent too much time we'd spend our road trip money and beyond, quite literally all in one place. We managed to escape with only a $35 bill, spent wisely on absolute essentials. I promise.


Next stop: Pastini Pastaria. After wandering about the city a bit, we stopped in for our first purchased meal since In-n-Out in SF. Delicious, quick, and utterly affordable, we filled up on good food, tasty drinks, and homemade spumoni for only twenty-five buck. It was in a close race with last night's cup-o-noodle feast, but Pastini definitely won a gold medal tonight. Congrats!

And, for the big finish: Too Much Coffee Man Opera: the refill!!!!!!!!!!!!! A little background: I discovered jazz pianist/vocalist Bob Dorough and Shannon Wheeler's comic Too Much Coffee Man at the same time, due to the album Too Much Coffee Man recorded by the singer, featuring the theme song to a proposed TV show. When I tripped across my first TMCM comic in Ashland, OR more than 5 years ago, I instantly recognized it as something truly great. And when I met Shannon Wheeler a few years ago at Comic-Con, he told me that another musical awesomeness was in the works. I have been positively jittery ever since. And suddenly, there we were, far away from home, in the super-swank Portland Center for the Performing Arts, old volunteer ladies peddling comics in the lobby and young indie folks lining up for coffee from the convenient stand outside the door.
And then the lights dimmed and the music started. And it was magnificent. Absolutely perfect. Baritone Stacy Murdock threw all of his considerable talent behind the ridiculousness of the man in the red spandex and the giant coffee cup on his head. I can't thank him enough. We had a great time, and I feel as though I can cross something off my Bucket List.

Yes, I just made that reference.


Ah, Portland! Be but a smidge more sunny and you would be perfect! As Mike says: "I don't want to go to sleep, because then I'll wake up and we'll have to leave." Just a head's up, Seattle. The pressure's on!

Today we listened to: Great Big Sea Live: (Great Big Sea), On the Road, "Convenience Stores" by Buddy Wakefield, an accordion player at the rail station, and, of course, an aria extolling the virtues of a certain caffeinated beverage (while drinking that beverage).


Mystery words: "Pee and poop in the hole"

Read Mike's take on things: astoriedyear.blogspot.com